Heavy drinking leads to heart attacks causing toxic iron to build up

Heavy drinking leads to deadly heart attacks by causing toxic iron to build up in the body, new research suggests.

Women from regions where alcohol consumption is high have greater iron levels in their bodies and are more likely to die from heart conditions, a UK study found.

Excessive iron levels may cause ‘internal stress’ that results in plaque building up in the arteries.

Alcohol may also suppress the hormone that prevents iron from accumulating.

More than 1.6 million men and one million women in the UK live with heart disease, which is a major cause of heart attacks and failure. The condition causes one in every four deaths in the US.

Heavy drinking is generally defined as five or more alcoholic beverages in one sitting for men and four for women.

Heavy drinking leads to heart attacks by causing toxic iron to build up in the body (stock)

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REPORT LINKS ALCOHOL TO ABUSE

A World Health Organization (WHO) report found excessive drinking is associated with an increase in domestic abuse, particularly men towards women.

The abuse can be physical, such as beating; psychological, like constant belittling; forced sexual intercourse; or controlling behaviour, such as isolating a person from their loved ones.

According to the WHO, this abuse may be caused by the belief that alcohol causes violent behaviour and therefore drunk people use this as an excuse.

In Australia, restricting the hours alcohol was in sale in one town reduced the number of booze-related domestic violence cases that ended up in hospital.

A coupon-based alcohol rationing system in Greenland in the 1980s, which entitled adults to 72-beers worth of booze a month, led to a 58 per cent reduction in police call outs for domestic abuse.

Those in problem relationships may drink to help themselves cope, however, this combined with pre-existing issues may cause abusive behaviour, the report states.

While abuse can cause physical injury, including miscarriages in pregnant women, it is also linked to emotional problems like suicidal thoughts and depression.

The WHO believes reducing social tolerance towards excessive drinking, along with the expectation of men to act masculine, may help to combat abuse.

How the research was carried out

The researchers, from Anglia Ruskin University, analysed 877 women with an average age of 50 who were living in sub-Saharan Africa. This region was chosen due to alcohol consumption generally being high.

The women, who were followed for around nine years, completed questionnaires on their alcohol intakes.

Iron levels were assessed by measuring ferritin in the women’s plasma samples. Ferritin stores iron and is a marker of the metal in the body.

During the study’s duration, 105 women died, of which 40 fatalities were heart related.

Their cause of deaths were determined via certificates or autopsy results. Cardiovascular-related fatalities included heart attacks, failure or strokes.

Link between alcohol, iron levels and death

Lead author Dr Rudolph Schutte said: ‘The link between iron and mortality has been disputed for around 30 years, but this study is the first to investigate the significance of the interaction between iron loading and alcohol intake.

‘These findings may have health implications globally for people who consume large quantities of alcohol.’

The findings were published in the journal Clinical Nutrition.

Saturated fats in dairy do not increase the risk of heart disease

This comes after research released earlier this month suggested saturated fats found in yoghurt, cheese, butter and milk do not increase the risk of heart disease,.

Lead author Dr Marcia Otto, from the University of Texas, Houston, said: ‘Our findings not only support, but also significantly strengthen, the growing body of evidence which suggests that dairy fat, contrary to popular belief, does not increase risk of heart disease or overall mortality in older adults.

‘In addition to not contributing to death, the results suggest that one fatty acid present in dairy may lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, particularly from stroke.’

Dietary guidelines in the US and UK recommend people people opt for low or no-fat dairy, however, the researchers warn such options are often high in sugar, which can drive heart disease.

Milk, yoghurt and cheese contain nutrients such as calcium, which lowers blood pressure, as well as anti-inflammatory fatty acids.